


Double Change

by OffCenter



Category: Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: Gen, Near Future
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-06-16
Updated: 2013-06-16
Packaged: 2017-12-15 04:39:35
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,570
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/845418
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/OffCenter/pseuds/OffCenter
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Since just after Trenzalore the Doctor's had a plan, a plan that had to wait for the right time.</p>
<p>Now it's time.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Double Change

The Doctor barely looked at the golden light that was blooming and coruscating across his hands. He stood up and shook himself. "Clara, stay back and do whatever River says. River, take care of her. And don't go anywhere!" He stared at each of them until they nodded, then threw back his head and screamed as the regeneration energy took over.

Clara started forward and River moved in front of her, blocking her way. "Stay back. The regeneration energy will kill you if you touch him."

"But he needs us! How can you stand there and not help him?" she demanded, tears streaking the dust on her face.

"Yes, he needs us," River agreed. "He _needs_ us to be over here not touching him, letting him get on with regenerating without having to worry that you'll kill yourself interfering."

Clara looked past River's shoulder at the Doctor. His hands and head were hidden by flames and he was still screaming. She knew, she _knew_ that she could walk right through River, but the Doctor's eyes as he'd told her to do whatever River said had been serious. She forced herself to stay in place and nodded at River, meeting her eyes briefly.

And then the Doctor doubled over briefly before standing back up, and Clara's eyes widened as she giggled nervously. Before she could say anything, the Doctor held out her hand to River.

"Wife, I need you. Quickly!" she said as she took out her psychic paper and opened the holder. Half a dozen long, curly blonde hairs were folded inside, and she shook them out onto her palm and dropped the holder.

River went to her without hesitation and Clara started to follow. The Doctor's new dark green eyes met hers and she shook her head. "Stay back!"

The Doctor wrapped one arm around River and cupped her head with her other hand, pulling her close.

River stared at the Doctor, her Doctor, memorising the new face: older and rounder, with darker skin, dark green eyes, full lips, and dark red hair. But as the Doctor pulled her closer, she closed her eyes and melted into her. Their lips met and it was familiar and comforting. Kissing the Doctor was still kissing the Doctor, and River forgot everything for a moment as she let herself relax into the kiss.

She felt an unexpected tingle and opened her eyes, shocked as she saw the play of energy over the Doctor's face extending to envelop her as well.

"Shhhhh," the Doctor whispered. "Relax, River." River shook her head, trying to pull back, then she screamed as regeneration energy coursed through her, still wrapped in the Doctor's arms.

And then it is was over and the Doctor was lowering her to the floor, cradling her gently. "I hate you!" River said shakily, glaring up at her.

"No, you don't," the Doctor responded, pleased that their old banter was still in place. She looked up and grinned at Clara. "It's safe now, love. Get a blanket for River, would you?"

Clara looked at the Doctor, now a woman who looked close to River's age, and then at River, who looked just the same. She was cradled in the arms of her husband -- wife? -- after going through what had looked like her own regeneration.

The Doctor caught her eye and raised single brow, and she ran to get a blanket. When she returned she knelt down and helped the Doctor tuck it around River -- solid, living River, and froze. River was alive?

"Problem with me being in my wife's arms?" River asked, raising one eyebrow.

Clara had barely started to say, "No, I just," when the Doctor interrupted.

"Wife? Haven't been a woman before. Does it suit me?" She turned her face side to side and looked down, seeing her different contours for the first time. She was curious to see what she looked like, but it could wait. Holding River, her beautiful, solid, living River, that couldn't wait.

"It's just I wasn't expecting to touch you," Clara finally got out. "I mean, I never have before. I've tried, and you weren't there. I mean you _were_ , I could see you, but when I tried to touch you, nothing. But now you are. Solid, I mean, and here."

River smiled reassuringly at her, then closed her eyes again for a moment. She wasn't feeling the surge of almost manic energy she remembered from her previous regenerations; instead she felt shaky and more than a bit weak. She opened her eyes and stayed in the Doctor's arms but made the effort to lift a hand and slap the Doctor far more gently than she probably deserved. "What have I said about wasting regeneration energy?"

"Says the woman who gave up all her regenerations to save my life," the Doctor answered. "Besides, your parents told me about you taunting those Nazis into shooting you when you'd just regenerated. This was far more important." The Doctor brushed back a strand of River's hair gently and kissed her forehead. "And it _worked_ , River. I didn't know if it would, but it did!"

River could feel the Doctor shaking and turned her head, pressing a quick kiss to her lips. "I'm here, my love. Whatever you did worked. And yes, it suits you. Now tell, me, what did you _do_?"

The Doctor took a deep breath. "Maybe I should have told you when I thought of it. But I knew it had to wait until I regenerated, and I didn't know if it would work, and I didn't want to get your hopes up...." Her voice trailed off until River poked her, hard. "And I didn't want to risk you saying 'no', either. You know that a long time ago I lost a hand in a fight just after I regenerated, and Jack--do you know Jack?" River nodded and she continued, "Jack managed to find it and keep it. And later it regenerated into a perfect, almost perfect, copy of me.

River asked, "That last part is _not_ in the archives. _Almost_ perfect?" at the same time Clara asked, "You grew a new body from a _hand?_ ", and the Doctor held up a hand for silence before answering.

She hugged River more tightly. "The other me was a mix of me and Donna. Looked like me, sounded like me, had all my memories, but he was more human than Time Lord. One heart, like Donna. Would age like a human and die, like Donna. Not a perfect replica, not even a Time Lord. But you weren't a Time Lord to start with, so..." She cleared her throat. "I don't know if you have one heart now or two, whether you'll age like a human or age like me, whether you'll regenerate or die. I'm sorry."

River poked her again, making her yelp. "Don't you dare apologise for giving me back my life!" She kissed the Doctor gently. "I don't care how many hearts I have or whether I'll age and die, you idiot. I'm with you and I'm alive." She kissed her again, her energy returning as the kiss deepened.

"Shall I leave you two alone?" Clara asked, and at the sound of her voice they moved apart. She looked at them, both glowing and sparkling with regeneration energy. "I don't mind, I can find something to do."

River wiggled and stretched, and the Doctor loosened her hold. "No, I want to hear more about how she did this, don't you?" She stood up and stretched more, then shook her hands and laughed as trails of energy sparkled. "I love this part, when I can see the energy." She turned back to the Doctor. "How long have you been carrying my hair around?"

The Doctor flushed again as she stood up. "Since just after that first trip to Trenzelore. Kissing you again, touching you; suddenly I couldn't stop thinking about you, about how unfair your half life was and about how much I missed you. That night I was thinking about when I first met you at the Library with Donna. You _knew_ me, and you were so self-assured, and I hadn't had that feeling of being all at sea because I didn't know more than every other person in the room in a very long time. And suddenly I remembered the me that was part Donna. A full person, grown from a hand, a mix of the DNA of my hand and the DNA of the closest living person, and I couldn't help wondering, 'what if?'. What if it was your DNA and I was the closest person. What would happen? Would it bring you back? Would you be your own self or a blend of you and me? There was nothing, _nothing_ , in any of the archives I searched, but the TARDIS thought it would work. She helped me gather hair from the nights you slept here and stored it in stasis so it was always fresh. Every time I've dressed I've taken out a few fresh strands of hair, never knowing when I might regenerate. That's why I've also kept you so close since then, begged you to stay near to me almost constantly. So there'd be a chance, the best possible chance, no matter when I regenerated." She grinned at River, eyes dancing. "I'm glad it was only a few weeks, though. I was running out of hair!"

The Doctor looked at River, flushed and smiling at her. She looked taller now, so that must mean this body was shorter. This voice sounded higher, well, it would if she was a woman. A woman! She started feeling her face; the skin was a different texture; it felt thicker and smoother. "I need a mirror! Sexy, love, can you make one?" The TARDIS hummed and a nearby panel became reflective, and the Doctor went over to it see her new face and body. She looked at her dark red hair with satisfaction. "Not quite ginger, but it _does_ suit me, doesn't it?" The hair was softly curled, less wild than River's and shorter. "Oh, I liked those trousers," she complained, looking at the tatters around her wider hips and generous chest. "And that waistcoat!"

"Now wait, an arm grew into another you, so you thought some hair might grow into another River, but you didn't ask her or warn her, you just did it?" Clara's eyes narrowed, but River came up behind her and put an arm around her shoulders.

"It's what he does. He never asks if he's sure he knows what's best. One can accept that or not, but he, or rather she, isn't going to change. And it's fine, Clara. I'm happy." River did look happy. She was almost beaming, her hair was a riot of curls, her face was pink, and her eyes were sparkling. Clara tried, but she couldn't stop her own tears.

"But he died, and now he's a she, and I never saw her in his time stream, so how can it be the Doctor? The Doctor was always a man! And I didn't want him to die!" River wrapped her arms around the younger woman, and then Clara felt another hesitant touch.

"I'm still me, love. I didn't die. But this is part of being a Time Lord. I change faces and I change bodies and I change personalities, but I go on and on, always different, but always me."

"But you don't even sound the same! You've never called me 'love' before, even when I wished you would. You called me 'the impossible girl', but this is more impossible than I ever was!"

River's soft voice asked, "Is it? Is it really? You went into his time stream; you shattered yourself and existed over and over through more than a thousand years, 11 long lives, protecting him from the Great Intelligence. You died over and over, a dozen, a hundred, a thousand times, always you, never remembering _this_ you where it all started. You were brilliant and amazing, and you still are. And the Doctor is brilliant and amazing, and she still is."

"Doesn't it bother you that your husband is suddenly your wife?"

"Why should it? The Doctor is the Doctor no matter what he -- or she -- looks like." Clara studied River's face. She looked truly happy. She turned and looked at the Doctor, who was back at the mirror and checking herself out. Clara started giggling at the sight and then couldn't stop, and when River turned and saw the Doctor trying to see her new body from every angle, she laughed as well.

"You'll be able to see everything better if you take those rags off!" she called loudly, and the Doctor jumped and spun gracefully around.

"I've never been this interested in how I look before! It reminds me of you in Berlin. What's a scale?"

River laughed and sauntered towards the Doctor, hips swaying. "Nothing you'll ever need, Sweetie, I promise." Her breath caught. " _Look_ at you! You're breathtaking." She shook herself and then grinned. "And now I won't feel like I'm robbing the cradle every time I kiss you." She leaned in and kissed the Doctor for emphasis.

Clara watched them. It was still hard to believe that was the Doctor, the same person as the man she'd been trying to not fall in love with for months. Now she was a woman River's age. _I still love him, I think. Her. I've never loved a her before, not like this. But she's River's wife and River is alive._ She sighed and turned to go to her room, missing the worried looks River and the Doctor were exchanging.

"Hair," said the Doctor, as though she believed that explained everything. Clara turned and stared at her.

"River's hair was part of her, like my hand was part of me. When it was exposed to fresh regeneration energy, it did its best to regenerate, just like my hand did. I hoped that by holding the physical hair against River, it would merge River, the River who's been travelling with us, into the River regenerated from the hair. I really wasn't sure it would work." She flushed again and looked sideways at River. "It might have made a you that wasn't the same you as you. Or hair might not have been enough. I'd even thought of going back earlier in your timeline and seeing if you'd be willing to lose a finger or toe. And if it hadn't worked, I was... well, I was thinking about forcing another regeneration to try again." She caught River's hand before it could connect and kissed the palm. "Better stop hitting me. People might think you're beating your wife, wife!"

River made a face at her then threw back her head and laughed. Her husband -- wife! -- was impossible and that made her love her all the more. She ran over and grabbed Clara's hand, pulling her towards the Doctor, whose hand she took again. "You belong here, too, love," the Doctor said as she held out a hand to Clara. Clara took it, and there was an odd tingling as though a circuit had been completed. Unexpected joy filled Clara, and the three spun and laughed as the TARDIS hummed her approval, laughter and delight flowing through her circuits as well. Her child was home.


End file.
